Child Care

There are hundreds of child care providers and preschools in the Twin Cities metro area, ranging from small, home-based day care centers that cater to infants and toddlers to public schools that have specialized programs for children as young as two years old. Minnesota law has specific guidelines for child care providers. Minnesota’s licensing procedure for potential child care providers is a strict one, too, requiring thorough background checks, drug testing, proof of completion of a child development course and a family day care training program, and unannounced site inspections that continue long after the license is granted. Minnesota law dictates that each day care must adhere to specific adult-to-child/infant ratios, usually of no more than six preschool-aged children per adult or two infants per adult.

The upside of this is that parents are able to rest much easier knowing their children are placed in such rigidly monitored day care facilities. Most day care centers in the Twin Cities have large, fenced-in play areas attached; serve one or two hot, homemade meals that meet USDA guidelines; and are run by people willing to go through rigorous screening procedures to become day care providers. The downside is that child care expenses in the Twin Cities are easily above the national standard, costing parents between $4,000 and $22,000 per year per child, with an average monthly bill of about $700. The following listings are by no means exhaustive but should give you a good foundation for your search for child care.